Malaise
by Wavewalker
Summary: Duo falls ill while on a mission, Wufei is sent to find him when he fails to respond to the other pilots messages. This will be yaoi 2x5.
1. Illness

Author's Note: Hey everyone, this is an idea that has been kicking around in my head for a while now. I know I should be working on my other story but I have not been able to write anything that sounds right. So I opened up this file, which contained the first two paragraphs and reread them and the ideas just started flowing so I went with it and this is the result. I do plan on finishing my other story. I plan on making this fic into a 2x5; Wufei will be showing up in the next chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters and I am making no profit by writing this story.  
  
Malaise By Wavewalker  
  
Chapter 1: Illness  
  
"Damn it! Where is the stupid safe house?" Duo snarled as he peered at the display screen in his Gundam, trying to make out landmarks through the beginning of what looked to be a blizzard. Or perhaps croaked should be the word. He had been fighting a 'bug' for the past few days. He had been hiding the severity of his symptoms in fear the others would think of him as being more of a baka than usual by getting sick. He had had no idea how much this 'flu' had been affecting him until this mission.  
  
It was supposed to have been simple, sneak in, get the information, get out and blow the base. A piece of cake for Shinigami ne? He had entered with his usual skill and grace and had downloaded the data to his disks easily but by the time he had done this, the slight nausea he had been feeling had become a constant rolling in his gut and he was shivering violently with the effects of a fever. As he was leaving he had somehow missed seeing an alarm trigger at the floor level. The OZ soldiers had nearly caught him but somehow he had managed to get to Deathscythe with little more than a new bruise on his shoulder from where he had careened off a doorjamb as he ran through. He had been so lucky that the base had had only a few mobile suits and no dolls; it had taken only minutes to destroy them. By then he was feeling so ill he could hardly see strait.  
  
Now all he had to do was find the safe house here in the Rocky Mountains and hide out until his trail went cold. His main problem was his blurred vision which was compounded by the snow which had started just minuets before. It had cut visibility to almost nothing and radar was useless in this terrain. He was worried about his health, he knew he had a fever and his head was pounding like a drum. His chest felt tight and he was holding back wracking coughs so as not to miss the landmarks he was looking for.  
  
Just then a small clearing in the trees he was skimming over suddenly appeared ahead and to the right, "That had to be it. The cave used as a hanger should be just a couple hundred meters behind the house if I remember correctly. Ah there it is right on target. Finally something is going right tonight," He muttered to himself.  
  
He swore softly as area in front of the hanger became visible, it was barely big enough to land on, and it would be nearly imposable in this weather. He cautiously began to lower his Gundam towards the ground and doing surprisingly well until less than 30 feet from ground the wind shifted directions and velocity. The sudden change caused his Gundam to be pushed towards the trees to the left of the clearing. He made it to the ground but he took three trees with him. He sighed and hoped that the snow would cover the newly downed trees in case OZ scouted in this direction when the snow stopped. He considered himself very lucky, if he had been blown to the right he would have hit part of the cliff that the cave was situated in.  
  
"Now all I have to do is get 'Scythe into the cave" Duo sighed again, very glad none of the others had been there to witness the sloppy landing. He found himself running through the other pilots probable reactions to such a sight: Heero would have glared, Trowa might have raised an eyebrow, Quatre would have immediately started asking if he was alright, and Wufei, well Wufei would have started yelling about how irresponsible and weak he was. It hurt to know that Wufei had so little respect for him, when he had nothing but the highest respect for the Chinese pilot.  
  
Respect and a bit of a crush, Duo thought Wufei was one of the strongest and most honourable people he knew. Not many had the strength to carry on in the face of such personal tragedy as Wufei had. And he had to be the hottest guy Duo had ever seen.  
  
Duo shook his head to try and clear it but all that did was start it pounding even harder. He walked his Gundam forward into the cave, this was one of the best makeshift hangers they had the roof of the cave was just tall enough for a standing Gundam and there was room for three standing or two kneeling Gundams inside. Duo manoeuvred Death Scythe Hell over to the left of the cave proper, kneeling down facing the entrance.  
  
Duo let go of the controls, unclipped the safety harness and relaxed back into the chair, taking a deep breath, which turned out to be a really bad idea. The coughs he had been suppressing burst forth causing him to curl forward as the violent spasms shook him. After what seemed like an eternity the spasms tapered off.  
  
Duo stayed curled around up breathing shallowly while he waited for the world to stop spinning. After a few minutes passed he slowly straitened and opened his eyes. He then reached for his laptop to send the mission data to Professor G, along with his current location. Usually he would wait until he was inside the safe house but tonight all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep as soon a he got inside.  
  
Duo finished shutting down DS Hell, gathered his personal gear and opened the cockpit. The temperature change caused another coughing fit, which sent his to his knees. When it had passed he used the lift wire to lower himself to the cave floor. He used the control panel on his Gundam's leg to close the front hatch and turn on the security system. He pulled his black down coat more tightly around him, hoisted his pack and started down to the safe house.  
  
If he remembered correctly the safe house was a rather comfortable four, room log cabin, with a generator in the lean-to for electricity. He knew there was plenty of fuel for the generator and lots of wood for the fireplace, Trowa had used the place last and had restocked the larder and fuel supply before leaving, only a month ago.  
  
The walk to the safe house took longer than he expected, he had to stop many times as either coughing spasms or dizzy spells over took him, and his nausea was back with a vengeance. He as shivering violently and staggering by the time he got to the lean-to at the back of the cabin. It took far to much time to start the generator, as he had very little strength left and pulling the ripcord caused him to start coughing again. He was extremely glad that the cabin had a door inside the lean-to, as he was not sure if he had the strength to make it around to the far side of the cabin through the waist deep drifts.  
  
He staggered into the kitchen hitting the light switch to the right of the door and pulled the door shut behind him. He struggled out of his boots and staggered into the main room where the fireplace was. He was thankful that Trowa had left a large stack of wood beside the fireplace. Duo paused in his trek towards the fireplace as his nausea reared its head and moved a quickly as he could to the small bathroom, to be violently ill.  
  
When he was sure his guts were going to behave for the moment he pushed himself off the floor and to the sink to rinse out his mouth. He looked at himself in the mirror, noting the overall pallor of his face, except for the red flush over his cheeks and his eyes were glassy.  
  
He headed for the bedroom and dragged one of the spare futons kept in the closet as well as all the blankets he could find out to in front of the fireplace. He thought that once he was down he likely would not be able to get back up and into the bedroom again. Besides it would be warmer in front of the fire.  
  
It took his three tries to light a match, since his hands were trembling so badly. Once the fire was established he wrapped himself in blankets and curled up. Within minutes he was asleep. 


	2. Fever

Author's Note:  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter I appreciate it. I am not sure if I have gotten all my facts right when it comes to Shenlong/Altron I figured that since the Altron was the space capable version of Shenlong that it was flight capable while in atmosphere. I did do some research on fevers, things like temperature ranges and as far as I know what I have written is correct. If you spot any glaring errors please report them in a review or in an email. Thanks and happy reading.  
  
Malaise  
  
By Wavewalker  
  
Chapter 2: Fever  
  
Chang Wufei was grumbling under his breath as he stalked down the hall towards Quatre's latest safe house's underground hanger. He was muttering about blondes with overactive imaginations, so what if the braided baka had not checked in since directly after his mission or replied to any of Quatre's emails, it did not mean anything had happened to him. It had not even been 24 hours, he was probably sleeping in while he had the chance or had not turned on his laptop yet.  
  
But a tiny voice in the back of his mind would not stop murmuring worrying possibilities, things that could have happened. Which was the only reason he had agreed to go check on Duo, that and he was the only one without a current mission.  
  
Entering the hanger he made his way towards Nataku, his Gundam would always be Nataku to him no matter what its official designation was, in honour of his late wife and one time best friend. One of the biggest mistakes he had ever made was letting his arranged marriage to Meiran destroy their childhood friendship; the pressures of their parents and clan's expectations for them had caused great misunderstandings leading ultimately to her death.  
  
He used the lift wire to ascend to Nataku's cockpit, once inside he booted her systems and ran a pre-flight diagnostic. He also checked on the weather along his planned route to the safe house Duo was currently at, it looked to be clear going until about 40 kilometres from the section of mountains the safe house was located in. There was a storm cell currently in the area with what looked like a second one brewing in the North. If he pushed he could make it to the safe house during the probable clearing of the weather between the storms.  
  
With his pre-flight checks complete he signalled the hanger's outer doors to open and began his mission to check on Duo.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
He had been right about the weather pattern, he would have just enough time to stash his Gundam and hike down to the safe house before it began to snow again; the wind was already beginning to pick up. He scanned the area where the safe house and hanger should be located and was startled to see how small the landing area was. He wondered how Duo had faired landing during the storm, the only communiqué he had sent them was dated and the posted time was during the early stages of the storm that was now leaving the area.  
  
After a successful landing, only so due to the amount of caution he took due to the rising wind, he entered the hanger. He noted that Death Scythe Hell was kneeling to the left of the cave; he then proceeded to position Nataku in a similar pose to the right side.  
  
He then sent a message to Quatre notifying him of his arrival and that he would be sending further information latter but that the approaching storm may interfere. He shut down all systems and exited his Gundam. As he left the hanger he took a good look around the clearing, the coming storm should cover the tracks of his Gundam. The left side of the clearing looked odd to him, as he moved closer he realized that this was due to the three downed trees, they looked as if something very large had sat on them. Which probably meant that Duo had had problems landing. Wufei frowned, Duo despite his foolish antics while not on mission he was in actuality a very graceful person and that transferred over to his piloting skills. Either the wind had been much stronger than reported or something had to have been wrong with Duo.  
  
With one last glance back at the hanger Wufei headed down to the cabin, as he approached he was surprised that there was no smoke coming from the chimney. He knew Duo had a personal preference for fires, one could often find his curled up before one during the winter if a fireplace was available. He made his way to the rear entrance of the cabin noting that at least the generator was still running but as he looked closer he noted that the fuel gage was hovering on empty. Wufei was becoming more alarmed by the moment, he knew Duo hated being cold and he was always sure to check on fuel for generators, he had been know to be a bit obsessive about that in the past. Wufei quickly filled the tank and entered the cabin.  
  
He had half expected to be greeted by a hyper, stir crazy Duo but all was silent inside. The temperature while warmer than that outside was nowhere as warm as it should be. Quickly shedding his outer gear and bumping the thermostat up, he made his way to the front rooms of the cabin, calling Duo's name as he went. He swept the room quickly for signs of occupancy but a first glance found none. He was making his way towards the bedroom when a low moan then deep coughing drew him around the couch facing the fireplace. There on the ground, curled up into a ball was Duo.  
  
Striding towards the other pilot Wufei again called Duo's name but got no response. He knelt down behind Duo and reached out to turn him onto his back, only to pull back shocked at how hot Duo was to the touch. Wufei once again reached out and eased the ill teen onto his back, Duo's face was flushed with fever and a second spasm of booming coughs shook his frame but failed to rouse him.  
  
Wufei laid new wood and kindling out and lit a new fire hoping to raise the room temperature to a more comfortable level. Wufei noted that the fireplace had been filled with ashes and burned out embers and that the woodpile beside the hearth was barely touched. Duo must not have been able to add more wood as the fire burned down, which led Wufei to estimate that Duo had not been conscious for long if at all since his arrival. This spurred Wufei into a flurry of activity.  
  
Wufei quickly fetched the first aid kit Quatre had packed for him and removed the thermometer, he moved to place it under Duo's tongue but he started coughing again. Wufei slid his arm beneath Duo's shoulders and moved to sit behind the teen to prop him up hoping to ease the coughing fit. It seemed to work and Wufei took advantage of the lull to take Duo's temperature. The reading was not good; Duo's temperature was 41.5oC (105.8oF), which was dangerously high. Wufei quickly began to remove Duo's clothes as he still had his outer gear on, he had to lower Duo's temperature before it could cause damage it was not quite to the point when brain damage could occur but it was still too high.  
  
After he finished stripping Duo down to his boxers, Wufei found a large bowl in the kitchen and some washcloths in the bathroom; he filled the bowl with slightly warm water. He carried the bowl and cloths back to Duo and started sponging him down, this mimicked sweating, to cool him off. Duo mumbled something incoherent and tried to pull away from the cloth, which probably felt very cold to him. Wufei hoped to bring down Duo's temperature without causing shivering, which would raise Duo's temperature. He would have to get fresh water soon, it was cooling to fast, cold water would cause the surface blood vessels in Duo's skin to close maintaining the current temperature or even raising it. Wufei would have liked to give Duo an anti-pyretic like aspirin but with the training they had all undergone at the hands of the 'Mad Five', Duo's drug tolerance would likely be too high for it to be of any benefit.  
  
As Duo's temperature began to drop slightly he began to mumble disjointed phrases and if he had been stronger he likely would have been thrashing, as it was he was barely moving. His weakness alarmed Wufei, there were not that many illnesses that struck this fast or hard, and none with symptoms that matched Duo's.  
  
"Damn, he must have been hiding this from us.but why?" Wufei wondered aloud as he hesitantly reached out to smooth Duo's bangs back from his forehead. Wufei went over the last week in his head, trying to recall any signs of illness in Duo. He had appeared to be his usual annoyingly cheerful self, but when he really thought about it he had been almost too cheerful. Wufei had observed that Duo did not like seeing others sick when Quatre had caught the flu; Duo had played nurse until Quatre was ready to scream, due to Duo's over protectiveness. Wufei frowned as it occurred to him that Duo always seemed to downplay any injury he received as if.as if he did not want to appear to be a burden. Understanding dawned as Wufei remembered the few times Duo had been hurt badly enough to warrant some form of medical attention, he winced as he recalled his and the other pilots reactions. His own had been some of the worst.  
  
"I was an idiot, I kept telling him that he was stupid to get injured in the first place and that he was lucky that we were there to save him. So the first time he is ill through no fault of his own he believes that we would be disgusted by his weakness and tried to hide it and successfully too." Wufei groaned while bowing his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.  
  
He reached out and gently cupped his hand around Duo's cheek and said "Duo please." before he could finish what he was going to say Duo face turned into Wufei's hand and his eyes fluttered open. 


	3. Dream Or Reality?

Author's Note: I am so sorry for the length of time it has taken me to write this chapter. I just could not get it to sound right. I have had the first six paragraphs written for over a month but when it came time for character interaction I hit a wall. I can picture the scene in my head exactly the way I want it but I cannot seem to translate it into words. It is really frustrating. Warning my version of Wufei could be considered very OOC but the way I see it is that Wufei was originally a scholar before he became a warrior so his philosophical outlook in this chapter is only to be expected.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters portrayed in this work of fiction belong to their creator and that is not me. Only the plot of this story is my intellectual property.  
  
Malaise  
  
By Wavewalker  
  
Chapter 3: Dream Or Reality?  
  
Duo was floating, which confused him there were no lakes or oceans on L2 or public pools. And if there had been they definitely would not have been this warm. It was warm, very warm nearly too hot. He drifted trying to determine why it was so warm when something disturbed his stupor. Hands, someone was touching him.  
  
Duo struggled to get away from the hands removing his clothes. Where was he, and where was Solo? Solo promised that no one would touch him now that he was part of his gang. Had Solo lied? What was happening? He couldn't get his body to work right or even open his eyes. He waited for the person holding him to force him onto his stomach and started to brace himself for the pain to come.  
  
The sudden cold at his brow shocked him and sent his thoughts reeling, and with sudden clarity he remembered that Solo was dead. So where was he, at the church? Was Sister Helen giving him a bath? He tried to protest that others should be using the hard to come by water; not him, not the kid no one wanted. The hands did not stop moving, but they did not hurt him so he relaxed and drifted.  
  
When he surfaced next he caught the sent of smoke. Smoke was bad; due to the lack of water any fires on L2 could become dangerous out of control blazes in no time. Where was it coming from.the church? No Father Maxwell, Sister Helen! He tried to move towards the church, to try and save the only two people he had left that cared if he lived or died. It was like he was suspended in something like the taffy that Solo had stolen for them once, he could not move forward. And again the image shattered at the shock of something cold touching him. He drifted once again.  
  
Was that a voice? Where was he? Duo began to pull his scattered thoughts together. He had been alone at the safe house. Had he been captured? No. Oz did not have fireplaces in their cells. So who was with him one of the other pilots? He knew there was some reason that having one of the others here was a bad thing. What was it again? And why was he so hot? His head was pounding so hard that he was having trouble keeping his thoughts in order due to the pain. It suddenly clicked he was sick and he did not want any one to know, if they did they would think he was weak and worthless.  
  
The voice spoke again, Duo knew he should know it but it was so soft and his head was pounding, the sound of blood rushing in his ears distorting things further. The touch of a cool hand on his cheek startled him from his thoughts; he instinctively turned his face towards the gentle touch. He really wanted to see who was touching him, his eyes slowly fluttered open and he found himself face to face with Wufei.  
  
Violet eyes locked with onyx and all Duo could think as his heart plummeted was, 'Oh shit! Of all the people why did it have to be Wufei? He hates me, and this will only confirm his opinion that I am not worthy to be a Gundam pilot.' Duo tried to pull away from the hand on his face; shame and fear flooded his system making him desperate to break eye contact. Not fear of physical harm, he could handle that, but fear of rejection. He braced himself for the harsh words he was sure were coming.  
  
Wufei winced at the sudden wariness that appeared in Duo's eyes as he realised who was touching him. 'Does he really think I will hurt him? Well given my previous reactions to his supposed faults, he probably expects me to start ranting at him.' When Duo started to pull his face away he quickly withdrew his hand.  
  
Wufei clenched his eyes shut and looked down, he was greatly pained by Duo's response. From his observations of Duo's behaviour when around Quatre and Heero he had concluded that Duo was a very physical person. He was almost always touching or at least attempting to touch one of them if they were in the same room. Heero usually pushed him away muttering threats while Quatre often returned the hugs and casual pats. Even Trowa seemed to tolerate Duo's exuberant greetings.  
  
'I am the only one he avoids touching. I am not surprised considering how I reacted the first time he hugged me. I believe I pushed him away and made some inane comment about how weak and foolish he was. It is no wonder that he expects reprisals from me; I have never shown him anything but scorn in the past.  
  
I hate my temper; it has caused me nothing but trouble both now and in the past with Meiran. I should have recognized the signs long before now, the last time I had such a violent reaction to someone I ended up marrying her. True the marriage was a forgone conclusion considering it was arranged by our parents, but I did come to love her and I would have enjoyed having someone so vivacious with me the rest of my life. We had just managed to come to an understanding when she died and now my accursed temper has nearly caused my to miss out on second chance at happiness.  
  
What ever happens in the future I have to try to fix my relationship with Duo, for he deserves nothing less than the security of all of our friendships. He is what keeps us sane, always there to break us out of sombre moods. I allowed myself to be blinded by anger and misconstrued his jokes and pranks as the acts of an immature idiot when they were really carefully planned sorties designed to relieve tension.  
  
I have to admit that they even worked on me. I may wince at how hurtful my responses were to his tactics but without the stress relief I would probably have lost it by now. He is like a light we all gravitate around, he keeps us all grounded in reality while the world around use sinks into chaos. Now all I have to do is convince him that I wish to be his friend for that is all I dare hope for at the moment. I must put aside my desires and repair the damage I have caused if that can be accomplished only then will I allow myself to dream of something more.  
  
Author's Note # 2: I originally intended for there to be more interaction between Wufei and Duo but as I mentioned above I am having problems writing that scene and Wufei's internal dialogue just seemed to flow, once I started I could not stop. I will try to get more of this fic written and posted soon but no promises my school work is much more important than writing fan fiction. I have a major research paper due next week and the usual assortment of lab reports to write up as well. On the bright side of things I only have until the middle of April then I will be done school until September. If you spot any glaring mistakes could you please inform me either in a review or in an email? All comments on my work are welcome and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Until the next time happy reading. 


	4. Trust

Author's Note: It's alive!!!!!!! Sorry about the extremely long wait for this chapter. I am also sorry that it is so short. All the ideas for this story and my other one dried up in the face of the amount of work I was getting from my classes. This is the best of the versions of this chapter I could do. If you guys have any ideas please feel free to share them with me. As always if you spot any glaring errors please let me know so I can fix them. Thanks again for reading my fics.  
  
This chapter is dedicated to Emily Hato whose reviews and e-mails spurred me on.  
  
Malaise  
  
By Wavewalker  
  
Chapter 4: Trust  
  
Wufei drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes, steeling himself for the task ahead of him. He took in the way Duo was curled into himself as if expecting blows, muscles tensed and eyes tightly shut. Wufei cleared his throat softly and spoke in what he hoped was a gentle tone.  
  
"I am glad you are awake Duo. You had me worried there for a while as I was not sure what medications would work on you. Do you have any suggestions? Duo?" He waited a few seconds becoming slightly alarmed as Duo's eyes appeared to have glazed over. Wufei reached out and placed hi hand on Duo's forehead gently brushing back the sodden bangs while calling Duo's name a third time. The prone teen's eyes suddenly focused on him and he saw him breathe in to respond but no words were issued only choking coughs.  
  
Duo's eyes had snapped open at Wufei's first words but all his thoughts had ground to a halt with the utterance of his given name. He could not recall if the Chinese teen had ever used his first name before, it had always been Maxwell or some form of derogatory nickname. He failed to hear the question posed to him or his name called yet again. The touch of Wufei's hand shocked his as much for its gentleness as for its coolness. The sound of his own name being spoken in such a worried tone rang in his ears. He automatically sucked in a deep breath to reply but all he managed to do was set off a coughing spasm.  
  
He was vaguely aware of his torso being lifted as he struggled to breathe. When the fit ended he collapsed against Wufei too dizzy and exhausted to care if the other teen thought him weak. He closed his eyes fighting against the nausea churning in his gut. The ringing in his ears slowly subsided and the quiet murmuring by his ear became audible, not that he could understand the words as Wufei had slipped into his native language but the tone was easy to understand as was the soothing hand running up and down his back. He was confused about Wufei's attitude change but he did not have the energy at the moment to examine his thoughts too closely, he was going to do what he did best and 'go with the flow'. He relaxed completely into Wufei's embrace tacitly giving control of his well being to the other teen.  
  
Wufei cursed to himself inside his head as he reached for the convulsing teen, easing him into an upright position against his chest hoping to ease Duo's breathing. He was not even aware he was speaking, let alone in what language, as he stroked his hand along Duo's back. The coughing slowly subsided and the braided teen stilled in his grasp then relaxed completely into his arms. The shock of this action, the implication of total trust, never before seen outside of a mission, that it entailed brought his words stuttering to a halt.  
  
The cessation of the musical flow of words goaded Duo into turning his face to meet the startled black eyes of Wufei. The emotions flickering though those usually unreadable orbs were reassuring for there was no malice, anger or pity only concern, tenderness and a growing spark of wonderment and joy as what Duo was wordlessly offering him registered. The appearance of a small but true smile on the Chinese teens face drew a matching one from Duo. With this silent truce called Duo let his eyes drift closed and curled into Wufei a little more allowing his exhaustion to overtake him.  
  
Wufei's soft smile lingered as he gently rearranged the sleeping teen in his arms into a more comfortable position. "Thank you Duo, I will not betray your trust. Sleep well my friend." He whispered as he settled himself for a night of guarding Duo's dreams. 


	5. Awakening

Author's Note: I am so sorry! I have had absolutely no inclination to write in the last few months and when I did I was nowhere near a computer. All of my best ideas came to me while I was at work this summer and it was impossible to write any of them down as the came to me. By the time I got home in the morning (I worked midnights) I was too tired to write them down then if I still remembered them and after I slept all of the great ideas that occurred while I was installing rear shocks, fastening down trailer hitches and front differentials would be completely gone. --' It was not until tonight that the ideas started flowing again maybe it has something to do with the hour at which I write this hmm...4:30am, I would have just finished my lunch if I was working. Well what ever the reason here is the next chapter. Thank you for the lovely reviews and once again if you see any mistakes please let me know so I can fix them. Thanks.

Malaise

By: Wavewalker

Chapter 5: Awakening

Wufei woke to the restive motions of the person in his arms. It took a moment for the fact that he was indeed in bed with someone to penetrate the fog of sleep. His eyes snapped open, head snapping upwards away from the soft mass of hair it had been resting against. He blinked at the image of Duo Maxwell curled tightly in his embrace, at his own had clutching Duo's plait. The memories from the previous night came back in a rush and he quickly began checking on Duo's condition. He realized that Duo was sweating heavily and was much cooler to the touch. That his fever had broken was a good thing but he needed to get Duo into dry clothing or he would become chilled. He eased himself out from behind Duo getting nothing more than a sleepy murmur from Duo as he rolled into the warm spot Wufei left behind.

Wufei grabbed his toiletry gear and padded into the bathroom to answer nature's call, wash his face and hands and brush his teeth. He would shower later after he made sure Duo was comfortable. He gathered up a couple of towels and headed back to the living room. He stopped by Duo's pack and rummaged until he found a clean pair of boxers. He then returned to Duo's side and softly called his name while gently shaking his shoulder. The last thing he wanted to do was alarm the ill teen by jarring him out of sleep. Startling Duo was a dangerous thing to do at any time but only more so now since Wufei did not want to inflict any more stress on Duo's weakened system.

The sound of his name and a gentle shaking of his shoulder interrupted Duo's strange dream of being chased by Oz troops armed with water guns, in a rainstorm. 'Man what was with all the dreams of water.' He thought as he slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the sleep from them.

As he turned his head to look at Wufei he became aware that the intense heat he had been feeling last time he was awake was gone only to be replaced with the sensation of clammy sweat laden clothing sticking to his body. He focused his attention on Wufei as the other boy leaned over and placed touched the back of his hand to Duo's face and spoke.

"Duo your fever has broken but we need to get you out of those wet boxers and change the bed linen or you will get chilled. Do you need a hand sitting up?"

Duo made one abortive attempt at sitting up on his own and nodded in affirmation. Wufei carefully slipped his arm under Duo's shoulders and helped him into an upright position. He kept his arm around Duo as he reached for the stack of pillows from the couch to prop Duo up as he was certain that Duo would not be able to remain sitting unaided. Wufei knew from experience that Duo's arms probably felt like overcooked noodles. He quickly arranged the cushions and leaned Duo back against them.

Once he was certain that Duo was secure he grabbed one of the towels he had brought from the bathroom and gently began drying the sweat from Duo's upper body. It took him a few seconds to realize that Duo was being too complacent; he looked up at Duo's face and could not hold back a slight chuckle at the floored expression the braided teen was wearing. Wufei doubted that Duo would have looked more surprised if he had sprouted an antenna and grown a third eye.

Duo blushed slightly as he became aware of Wufei's gaze but was calmed by the gentle humour apparent in those dark orbs. Wufei gave Duo's shoulder a soft squeeze and returned to drying Duo off. When Duo's front side was dry he rested his hand on Duo's shoulder and tugged gently, pulling Duo forward to rest against him rather than the pillows so he could dry his back.

Duo did not quite know what to make of Wufei's new attitude but right now he was not going to question them too closely. For the first time in a long time he felt safe and truly cared for. He was not going to spoil this by nitpicking at the details; he would save ferreting out the reasons behind Wufei's current actions until he was feeling a whole lot better. With this in mind he did not resist when the Chinese teen pulled him forward against him. He let himself relax as the pleasant friction of terrycloth against his skin continued only rousing when the sensation stopped. Duo felt vaguely bereaved as Wufei settled him back against the pile of cushions and moved to dry off his legs up to the bottom of his boxers.

When Wufei had finished drying all that he could without removing Duo's boxers he drew in a deep breath before hesitantly reaching for the waist band of Duo's shorts, his face growing warm as he blushed.

Duo's hands fluttered nervously as he made a self terminated attempt at stopping Wufei from removing his only article of clothing he knew he was physically unable to change on his own. This did nothing to dampen his embarrassment and he knew his face was going beet red.

Neither teen made eye contact for several long minutes after Duo was successfully redressed. Wufei finally looked at Duo and broke the silence and asked him if he needed to make a trip to the bathroom. Duo had been dimly aware of the growing need to relieve his bladder as Wufei had been drying him and nodded not trusting his voice at the moment.

Wufei carefully lifted Duo into his arms and stood up and carried Duo into the bathroom. He lowered Duo to sit on the closed lid of the toilet then helped him to his feet. He hesitated until Duo smiled slightly and assured him that he would be able to handle everything else on his own and would call him when he was through.

Wufei exited pulling the door shut behind him and leaned against the wall. A small frown marred his features as he mentally studied the images of his friend's unclothed body and realized that Duo had absolutely no fat to be seen he doubted that his companion weighed more than 50kg (110lb) fully clothed. He recalled being able to feel each individual rib as he had dried off Duo's chest, at the time he had not really been paying attention to anything other than getting Duo dry. This was worrying since Duo had no reserves of fat to burn in place of food while he was ill. Wufei found it hard to believe that Duo could be so thin; he had seen the teen pack away enough food for three people in one sitting and he was forever snacking on junk food. He made a mental note to prepare some soup after he got Duo settled.

With that in mind he moved back over to the bedding and stripped away any blanket that felt damp piling them off to one side. He dug through Duo's pack for some more warm clothes and spread all that he found next to the fire to warm. He then arranged the cushions so Duo would be able to recline them in a semi-upright position. He moved back towards the bathroom as he heard the toilet flush and waited outside the door as Duo washed his hands, only entering when Duo called him.

He found Duo leaning on the counter, bracing himself on shaking arms. He quickly moved forward and pulled Duo back against him supporting the exhausted teen. He remained standing there his arms wrapped around Duo's midsection, cradling his friend as he stared at the image in the mirror. At how ethereal Duo looked his skin pale and smooth except for a faint flush to his cheeks, the contrast between his own golden skin against Duo's creamy tones.

Duo too had been absorbed by the picture reflected in the mirror and by the feeling of security he found in Wufei's arms. He felt a brief fluttering of hope in his heart that maybe there might be a chance of something more than just friendship between the two of them. Then an avalanche of self-doubt crushed that small flicker of hope as a sly voice in his head whispered that Wufei was probably only being nice because he was sick and that as soon as he was better he would probably return to ignoring him or worse disdaining him. The downward turn of his thoughts caused him to shudder.

Wufei only snapped out of his daze when he felt Duo shiver and quickly scooped him up and carried him back to the living room. He lowered Duo to the futon and went and collected the now warm clothes from the hearth. He helped Duo into a black sweatshirt, a pair of matching pants and a pair of socks. He then shook out a couple of blankets over Duo to keep him warm. During all of this Duo had not said a word and worse had been avoiding his gaze. Wufei sat facing Duo on the side farthest from the fire. He softly called Duo's name and when this failed to get a response he reached out and cupped his hand around Duo's jaw turning his face towards his own.


End file.
